Birthday Visitor
by Chris Kenworthy
Summary: Alex gets one nice present on his seventeenth b-day.


"Yeah, Mom, I really had a nice time," Alex assured her. "I'm... I'm just kinduv tired now."

"And did you get any presents that you liked?" his father asked before Alex could leave the living room.

"Well, yeah." That was true enough. Certainly the graphics programming software was something that he'd been really looking forward to... some gift certificates at the local indy music store down on Texas avenue... and even the sweatshirt that Maria had given him was pretty stylish. And he really liked steak, the ambience at the restaurant, and he'd been able to spend his birthday with pretty much his four favorite people in the world - his parents, Liz, and Maria. *Why don't I feel like that's enough anymore?*

Well, possibly because it was hard to tell if there were still only four favorite people in his world anymore... not as if someone new had actually bumped one of them out of their spot, but it was hard to deny the idea that Isabel Evans had also stepped up into that rarified pantheon, no matter how much she could aggravate him when she wasn't even trying to be difficult. Alex had never been very good at choosing between people like that, and he certainly wouldn't have been able to do it with any of those five. Six, he belatedly realized while walking down the hall to his bedroom, adding Aunt Louise to the roster - he hadn't seen her in years, but Louise Madigan, technically a first cousin on his mother's side but promoted to 'favorite aunt' by agreement when Alex was eight... well, that pretty much said it all as far as Louise was concerned.

Part of the problem, Alex decided as he took the sweatshirt present off and carefully folded it, putting it down on his dresser top, was that neither Maria, nor especially Liz, were in much of a mood to celebrate that night. Oh, they'd both tried to throw themselves into the festivities for Alex's seventeen years, but - well, Liz was still very upset about having seen Max kissing Tess Evans in the rain, two days ago, and Maria was a little discombobulated about the whole thing too - she probably wouldn't get over it until well after Liz had put the incident behind her, one way or another. And then there was Isabel. Alex had tried to talk to her at school earlier in the day - not like he had been about to *tell* her that it was his birthday, or invite her to his birthday dinner or anything - but he'd wanted to at least talk to her on this special day. Maybe flirt with her if he was feeling confident, and he'd been high on confidence when he first spotted her lovely figure in the hall, between second and third period. But Isabel had immediately turned about, nearly running away from him when he was still a long way away, and had ducked into Mrs Wenthalm's classroom. Wenthalm was notorious for staying in her room throughout the entire break, (and most of lunchhour and her free periods, evidently,) and not letting anyone have non-history-related conversations inside there, so Isabel must have known that she'd be 'safe' from him inside there. Alex hadn't dared to go in, since he didn't have history at all this term. It disappointed Alex very much, though, that Isabel felt that she needed to be 'safe' from him.

He had slipped into the bathroom to wash behind his ears and under his fingernails, changed into a pair of old cotton pajamas, and laid in bed for about ten minutes without feeling like he was remotely about to get to sleep when it started. First, his curtains pulled partway aside and the blinds pulled all the way to the top of the window all by themselves. Then the window and windowframe swung out of the house - which surprised and worried Alex very badly, because it wasn't built to do that. The window was one that only 'opened' a very small amount normally, sliding up by about two and a half feet or so, with a metal mesh remaining in place to make sure that no bugs got in. But now, the entire window space was entirely open to the night - a huge hole in the wall. He hoped that the structure of the house wouldn't be weakened by the gap.

And then, Isabel flew through the space where the window had been, into his room.

Alex couldn't have been more surprised if... well, um, it was hard to even think of something that could have surprised him about as much. She was wearing something that was lacy and revealing - a variety of nightgown perhaps, and shot a look at him with her head cocked to one side, like, 'aren't you going to SAY something??' Alex had to clear his throat a few times, and when he managed to blurt something out, it was - "Aren't... aren't you going to put the window back? It - it looks weird like that, and I'm worried that - that it might fall off the wall entirely, hanging outside like that."

Isabel paused for a moment, breathing slowly but deeply, and Alex shuddered slightly at the amount of pale, quintessentially desirable flesh that she was showing and the way her flesh moved ever so slightly. "I... I guess I could," she whispered at him. "But... but then how am I going to leave your house? I'll... I'm gonna have to go at some point, before you get called for breakfast I guess, and if I go out your bedroom door and through the hallway, I could get caught."

"We'll... we'll work something out," Alex said quickly. "You can even do this to the window again later, so you can leave. But it's better to put it back the way it was until then, right??"

Isabel paused for just a moment, then bobbed her head. "You have a point." She waved at the window, and it swung back closed silently, and merged back into the rest of the wall without any seam or evidence of what had happened. Alex breathed, and tried to relax. "I, um, just blew by to wish you a happy birthday."

"Al- alright," Alex said. "Is - is the flying thing new?"

"Actually, yeah." Isabel stepped a bit closer. which had the effect of showing a bit more of her long and perfectly shaped legs. "Figured that it could come in handy, since we never seem to know what to expect around here." She laughed once, very softly, coming within about six feet of Alex, which was near enough that he could feel some kind of force or energy running invisibly between them. "And once I'd kinduv gotten the hang of it, I couldn't resist actually flying in through your window." She sighed. "I didn't realize that I'd have to go to such lengths to actually fit through, but - well, I'm pretty stubborn I suppose, and once I set my mind on something I often go to extremes if that's what's necessary to get it done."

"I... I think I might have noticed some of that already," Alex said softly. Isabel looked up at him. "Oh, was just thinking of the winter holiday concert last year."

"Ohh... right." Isabel had been 'helping to organize' the event - in theory she was helping, that was. In practice, she had quickly and efficiently taken over, frustrating most of the stage crew, some of the orchestra, and the dramatic performers from the theater club with her exacting, perfectionistic standards. Alex, on the other hand, had found her enthusiasm and slightly neurotic tendencies charming - which was probably one of the first signs that he was falling for her. Of course, he might have had a different view if Isabel had actually targeted one of her scathing rants directly at him - but she'd probably been trying to keep anyone from thinking that there was a connection between them, so soon after Alex had found out her secret, and had hardly paid any attention to him. Alex played a double bass in the orchestra, and generally had fun with it, though it wasn't quite the same experience as performing in his 'real' band.

It had been during the dress rehearsal for the concert that Alex had found out that some people - including Michael Guerin, one of Isabel's closest friends, had nicknamed her 'The Christmas Nazi' when she got into that sort of mood. Alex privately enjoyed the name, though he would probably not mention it to her face without being extremely sure that he was on safe ground doing so - if that was possible. "Well, umm, thanks for, uhh, for coming by," he said, shaking his head slightly and wishing that he could think of some suaver dialog.

"How... how has the day been for you, so far?" Isabel continued, and Alex looked up to her, grateful for the leading line but not quite sure yet what use he'd be able to make of it.

"Umm - a little disappointing, actually," Alex said, and Isabel blinked slightly. "Just - umm, just because I was spending a lot of it with Maria and Liz, and they're - they're so upset about the Max Tess kiss thing. And - well, I guess I am too," he admitted. "Just - Liz is one of my closest friends, and when her feelings are hurt, mine are too a bit."

"I... I guess I know how you feel," Isabel said. "I... I know that Max really never meant to hurt Liz, and that what happened isn't what it seems." She sighed. "But that's not what I'm here to talk about." Isabel reached out and caught Alex's hand in one of his. "Is - is that the only thing that was disappointing you about your birthday?" she whispered in a husky, slightly teasing tone.

Alex's eyes widened. She was really asking for him to blurt it out, wasn't she? Well... well, he still wasn't going to give her the satisfaction yet. Two could play at that game. "Well, there's the little matter of a pretty girl at school TOTALLY snubbing me."

"I was *not*..." Isabel started, and then trailed off. "Umm, that is..."

"I didn't say it was you," Alex pointed out softly. "Though your response would tend to incriminate you."

"I - I didn't mean to, well, it wasn't really anything personal." Isabel sighed. "Just - I'd gotten in trouble for not prepping for a math quiz second period, and at the same time I was worried about Tess and if the FBI has come back to Roswell, watching us - and for some reason I didn't feel like talking to you. I... I can't even explain it any better than that, and I'm not proud of myself for doing that." She sighed, and dropped down to sit on Alex's bed without even seeming to be aware that she was doing it. Alex sat as well, a little bit away from him. "Even... even if I had a good reason for avoiding you, well, a better reason, I'd still have been a bad friend for just taking off like that, without explaining. It would have been better to tell you what was bugging me - in general, you're pretty good at making me feel better about stuff like that, and I don't even know why I didn't remember that." Suddenly her richly brown eyes were locked onto his in a stare that he found uncomfortably magnetic. "Maybe... maybe it's because I have a hard time depending on other people to be there for me... I felt like I needed you today, and for that reason, I didn't let myself come to you. Pretty stupid, huh??"

"Umm... I've heard of more healthy psychological responses, yeah," Alex said, and Isabel couldn't seem to repress a chuckle at the way he'd put it. (Bouncey, bouncey.) "But... but, well, isn't there something about knowing yourself being half of the journey??"

"No, I think that was the old GI Joe safety commercials," Isabel shot back. "'Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.'"

Alex shook his head. "Well, regardless, I think it applies here, even if it's not a bonafide aphorism. You.. you know, I mean, you've realized that it doesn't make sense to run away from the things that... that you want. And even though there might be a few relapses along the way, I think that's a good sign of progress." He sighed. "And... well, and you're here, which might or might not be a good sign, depending on the reasons why you came."

Isabel reached up to touch the side of his face, and suddenly Alex froze, realizing how close they were. "I... I think that it's a VERY good sign." She was nearly breathing into his face, even though their mouths were still a few feet away from each other. "I... I haven't just been talking about wanting you in my life as a friend, Alex, though I realize the consequences of making the wrong move with this... with the kind of self-defeating behaviour we were talking about are much greater when we move beyond friendship. I... I really like you, Alex, as a guy. I've gone on dates before, but - but only with guys that I never thought I could see myself liking that way..."

"Protecti-" Alex's voice cracked slightly. "Protective camoflage, I guess. You wanted to look like every other girl at school, or at least all the other pretty and popular ones, and staying away from the dating scene wouldn't have fit with that."

"Yeah," Isabel admitted slowly. "Though I guess going out with guys that I didn't care about has attracted me at least a little notion - isn't that part of why they call me the Ice queen?" She sighed. "I... I don't think I'm falling in love with you yet, Alex. But I want to - I want to try love, with you."

"The wings of an angel," Alex breathed, quoting automatically. "The wings of a dove."

"What?" Alex tried to look down into his lap, but Isabel's eyes somehow held him steady. "Alex, what does that mean? I... I'm just curious."

"I - I'm not sure what it *means*, at least not at the moment," he confessed. "But they're words from a song I really like - a John Hiatt song." Isabel shrugged slightly, and he realized that the name didn't mean anything to her. "Well, he's good, anyway. It was probably a very tenuous connection, just a similarity of sounds. 'Try love' made me think of 'Cry love.'"

"Huh." Isabel thought a moment, and then waved to Alex's guitar case, sitting next to his desk. "Can you play it for me?"

Alex only hesitated for a moment. It didn't really occur to him that playing music so late might attract the attention of his parents. "Alright." He got up, fetched his guitar from the case, spent a moment tuning it, and tried to think of how the lyrics started. Then he started playing, a guitar riff that was so unforgettable he had no problem with it, no matter that he'd only actually tried playing it once or twice.

"A moment of steel, a dry-eyed house

Did he say goodbye to you, or did you kick him out?

I know youre not afraid to go alone

But this was a marriage of spirit, flesh, and bone.

Now what ya gonna do, when the planet shifts,

Whatcha gonna do - gonna slit your wrists?

And bleed all over the milky way?

The stars in your eyes, they look red today.

"Cry love, cry love

The tears of an angel, the tears of a dove

Are spilling, all over your heart, from above

Cry love, cry love.

"The trust of a woman in his hand

But he was a little boy, and not a man

You loved him stronger than he could feel

Yeah he was wrapped up in himself like an orange peel.

Now whatcha gonna do with the booze and the blush,

Whatcha gonna do when theres no rush?

Cop a little misery at the corner store?

Well one day that train of pain wont stop no more.

"Cry love, cry love

The tears of an angel, the tears of a dove

Are spilling, all over your heart, from above

Cry love, cry love, cry love.

"Throwing up ashes on the floor

If this is a lesson in love well whats it for?

The heart won't remember the burning fire

The next time you feel the flame of desire.

"Cry love, cry love

The tears of an angel, the tears of a dove

Are spilling, all over your heart, from above..."

"Yeah, I see the point," Isabel said, and even though her voice had been soft, it interrupted Alex's singing and playing. "They're definitely evocative lyrics, huh?"

"Yeah," Alex said, nodding slightly. "Any idea what they mean to you?"

"Maybe some of what we were talking about," she said dully. "What it's like for the person left behind... after love goes wrong. After someone with too cold or hard a heart to return their love leaves."

"Oh, come off it," Alex said. "If you're comparing yourself to... to the ex-husband or whoever he was in that song..."

"Why not?" she flared. "'You love me stronger than I can feel, but I'm too wrapped up in myself.' Doesn't that hit home to you, just a little bit?"

"May--- maybe the tiniest little bit," Alex allowed, holding his fingers up so close that Isabel could hardly see any space between them, which was probably the point. "But that doesn't mean that the end of the story is pre-determined, by any means. You can open yourself up - you can open your heart. I'm sure of that much. I'd - I'd be pleased if it was to me." Alex sighed.

"You - you know that I want to," Isabel insisted. "But - but I'd never want to find out that the stars in your eyes went red because of me." Alex shook his head, as if he was hardly able to believe that she'd said that to him. "Okay, well, let's start small. It's your birthday today... and I guess I didn't know what to buy for you." She smiled an open smile, without any trace of mischief, at him. "What do you want more than anything??"

A number of possible answers passed through Alex's mind, and he refused to say each of them out loud. "You... you kinduv already gave me an advance birthday present," he blurted out. "The time you came to my door and kissed..."

"No," Isabel corrected. "That... that kiss was not something I GAVE," she insisted, so firmly that Alex couldn't even think of arguing the point. "I asked for it, and you gave it to me. I'm glad if you enjoyed it, and I probably gave some of what I got back, but as a whole, that kiss does NOT count as a present." She smiled. "You'll have to pick something else."

"Well..." Alex boldly leaned forward to whisper close to Isabel's ear. "How about your company to a movie tomorrow night?" he asked. "The John Cusack movie is still playing at the Cinema Four - I've been meaning to catch it."

Isabel grinned. "I'd love to," she admitted. "And... how about sharing another kiss, before I go?"

"Try and stop me," Alex quipped, but first he had to set the guitar aside before it was possible for the two of them to come together. Isabel was a soft, warm, bundle of exquisite desirability in his arms as their lips met, and part of Alex wanted to go beyond kissing, but he wasn't sure if she was ready for that yet. They'd have time for that.

"By the way, I love your outfit," Alex giggled as they checked the door. There was no sign of Alex's parents being awake, even after the singing, and the two of them slipped down to the front door. Alex wondered if Isabel had been hit by a wave of memories as she stepped out onto his porch, because she reached out and planted her lips on his one more time. He never knew if she'd pulled his hand around to cup her plush bottom through the thin material, or if that had been something his arm had done on its own volition. Alex pulled his limb away quickly, but from the sound Isabel made into his mouth, she seemed to like it. He filed that fact away. "I... I'm really glad that you came," he told her, brushing a bit of hair away from her face. "It... it really bummed me out that every time we seemed to be getting anywhere last week, Tess showed up and you always seemed to pay her more attention to me."

"Well, I'll never let her come between us again," Isabel promised. "I'll probably still have to think about her, just to figure out if there's some reason she's so interested in Max beyond a schoolgirl crush, but she doesn't count to me like you do." Alex smiled at that thought, and waved as Isabel hurried away to the car she had left at the curb. She winked at him, got into the drivers' seat, and the car zoomed off.

Alex hummed softly to himself as he went back to his room, looking forward to the morning.

THE END.


End file.
